cambio

Thanks. Pm'd you

My m32 gearbox is whining in gear, worst in 6th. Looks like it could be the mainshaft bearing on its way out. Anyone got any tips or recommendations? Smaky have you done one of these yet? Seems popular on the 1.9 diesels, Alfa or Vauxhall :-(

Take a spare bolt to an engineering supplies place and get a tap and clean out the threads. Go steady, plenty of grease, one turn in, half back out until its done. If its completely shagged it can be helicoiled, or a new hub worst case, theyre not millions. Three bolts is ok unless your surname is Schumacher, keep the speed down a bit due to the imbalance of the missing bolt giving you steering vibration.

Just wondered what your thoughts are on intervals for the diesels Smaky? specifically a 159 with the 1.9 16v, cambelt was 'done' couple of years/ 20k ago but waterpump wasnt (!). car is now on 51k and do you know anyone near oxford who could do a good job.... and are they any good at tracing an air con leak and noisy suspension...? so many questions

Stick to right turns? Sounds like a gear linkage or selector shaft issue. Check under bonnet adjustment and for any difference in travel between third, first and fifth for starters. Also check cable routing and engine mounts for any snagging or excess movement.

same problem just arrived on my 159. fingers crossed new res and fluid will fix it. there goes my morning tomorrow

**that is nice*** can anyone lend me 4.5 grand and a big box of kleanex??

cheers have read about that, an accident repair place might be worth a visit. brakes done yesterday. 2 minor issues:- a sheared stud on the little plate that clamps the brake pipe to the upright (enough thread left to get another nut on so no big issue) and the caliper bolts being a bit of a fecker to get off, threadlock and the end of the bolts pokes through the caliper so get crudded up. loads of plusgas and waiting helped. aftermarket discs wouldnt accept the disc retaining screws either. i now have a dented left knee courtesy of caliper bolt undoing. also, diesel heaters are very good, almost marriage material

cheers i'll give them a ring. Car is in for a service at palmer and phillips today, they came recommended so i'll see how much they can supply bits for too. TBH i only want the service book stamped otherwise i'd diy. They called earlier to say the front brakes are shot, which i knew, strangely the box of discs and pads on the shelf in the garage doesnt seem to be fitting itself looks like i'll be doing it on the weekend then. in the snow. (cue violin)

Hi all, i'm new (ish) to alfas, although i have driven fiats for 15 years beforehand so i sort of know what to expect! its a solid car and compared well to the germans i drove when looking without everyone treating you like something they stepped in!. big step in build compared to 156 but a bit too much mass (with knock ons for fuel and dynamics). I have a small hit list for my 159 (or vectra if you prefer) that have come up in the last year, wonder if anyone can help? or just 1. central locking - console button will lock but not unlock doors, can unlock by pulling drivers door pull. indie has spent several hours swapping switches, solenoids etc and came to the conclusion I'd have to live with it... I'm suspecting wiring loom from switch to control module? It does occasionally unlock itself randomnly... 2. knocking front right suspension. same indie thought it 'could' be an upper arm but couldn't be sure, though offered to do it for me for the sum of £300...I politely declined. Anyway, I can happily do it myself (when its a bit warmer out) but where is the best source of arms, I heard about cheap chocolate 156 ones and I cant be a$$ed to do the job twice. 3. air con. leaky pipe, quoted about 300 quid to replace and re gas. Think I might identify and buy the pipe & it should be an easyish swap, bumpers and so on permitting. 4. alignment. car pulls to left and steering wheel isnt centred. I've had this looked at by 3 different places and had it reset including the 4 wheel print outs all looking ok but still the problem remains. I'm getting close to getting it up to pete cambridge to spend £100 on getting it sorted but apparently it could be subframe misaligned (was dropped for a rack replace I assume so could be put back out) apart from that its gone ok for he last year or so and 16k miles...oh apart from a few squeeks and rattles and knocks, must get the door seal lube out again

gold taps? i wish! yellow vinyl flooring though, sort of gold if you squint/ try not to vomit

bro in law said the bathroom looked like something out of priscilla queen of the desert

cheers guys and girls, I'm between oxford and reading. Its my first diesel so we'll see how it goes! Bit strange at first mind. The 159 feels like a really grown up car, big heavy and a bit germanic after buzzing round in biscuit tin petrol fiats forever its real pipe and slippers territory! I tend to view cars as volume transport as I've got a bike if I want to go proper fast. But they might as well look good too hey? I've got a few issues that are causing me some grief but as I moved house not too long ago sorting the car is taking a back seat to getting rid of a pink bathroom amongst other delights. I'll post them in the techie section so you can all have a prod/ laugh!. I used to do most of the work on the fiats myself so I'll probably do the same on this. Already have a copy of fes which has been fairly busy on the 2 other alfas of work colleagues so far this year as well as mine! I'll have to have a chat with smaky too as my old day job involved designing AMTs (selespeed style boxes) for some rather exotic italian vehicles, working with one of the guys who worked on the original sele prototypes.

well not really, getting a bit fat and old these days found this forum thanks to a few of the guys at the oxford meet earlier in the week. I'm driving a 159 diseasel after a decade or so of fiats, maybe I'll get directed to a vauxhall vectra forum instead